Challenger 329
by DarthMittens
Summary: She was the three hundred twenty-ninth challenger since he had gained the title of 'Strongest Swordsman in the World.' Why does this fight feel so different than usual, though, and why is Zoro feeling pangs of nostalgia? Short One-Shot.


**A/N: I'm happy to start my foray into the wonderful world of One Piece fanfiction.**

**Any views about women in this story are not my views, but views I like to give Zoro to help with the plot.**

**Challenger 329**

She was the three hundred twenty-ninth challenger since he had gained the title of 'Strongest Swordsman in the World' by defeating the previous title-holder. Her ship had attacked theirs right as they had started lunch, so he wasn't in a very good mood to begin with.

He stood in front of the overturned table as the battle raged all around them, taking the bandana off of his arm to wrap it around his head. He didn't know why, but that simple act always made him feel invincible. So did drawing Wadou, which he did slowly, menacingly, letting his opponent know beforehand that no mercy would be shown in this fight.

Luffy sent a crew member of the attacking pirates flying overboard but made sure not to touch the challenging swordsman; he knew this one was Zoro's. So did the other pirates, it seemed, for the two of them had a circle devoid of anybody a good ten feet around them.

"That mask is going to restrict your vision," Zoro said as he drew a second sword, referring to the ceremonial fox mask his opponent was wearing. And in reference to the traditional kimono she was wearing, he said, "And your poor choice of clothing will restrict your mobility."

"I could beat you with my eyes closed and with one arm tied behind my back," she responded, confidently drawing her own katana.

"Tch," was all Zoro could manage as he placed Wadou in his mouth and drew his third sword.

His opponent took an offensive stance, prompting Zoro to dig into a defensive stance of his own. He didn't know why, but he felt that this would be over in one swing - her stance was ridiculous, her sword held directly over her head for an overhead blow.

They stood like that for several minutes, until Zoro finally realized she wasn't going to attack first. He planted his feet and charged, dodging to the side of the obvious over-handed blow. He was blocked as he tried to slice her clean in half, and used Wadou to block a counter-strike.

She reacted instantaneously to his every move, in some cases even predicting his moves. He was shocked that this mystery swordswoman seemed to know his style so well, even though he found that he could predict some of her strikes. They brought weird flashes of memories of when he was a child to his mind, and that startled him. He began pushing a little harder, deciding to up the pressure on this mystery swordswoman a little more, and her movements became more frantic and wild.

Zoro almost felt bad. A woman's physique just couldn't keep up with a man's.

The woman unleashed a massive over-hand blow that Zoro had to block with two swords, gritting his teeth as the vibrations ran down his arms and his knees shook the tiniest bit from the pressure.

Zoro kicked her back and sheathed two of his swords, leaving Wadou in one hand. He would end this right now.

"Shishi Sonson...Ran Kya Ku!"

Zoro dashed at her and sliced at her, coming to a stop several feet behind her. "Roudan!"

He looked back to find his opponent crouched low to the ground, sword held as if she'd just finished a swing, and a sudden burst of pain lanced through Zoro's body. He coughed up a bit of blood to find that his opponent had caught him pretty good just above his hip.

After a brief moment of shock, Zoro grinned, quickly placed Wadou back in his mouth, and drew his other two katana, leaping at his opponent as she stood back up. He unleashed a barrage of strikes, leaving her unable to counter-strike at all - she was doing everything she could to stay alive. Nevertheless, he heard her grunt a couple times as he nicked her. She just couldn't handle three swords coming at her so overwhelmingly at once.

Finally, Zoro managed to disarm his opponent with a twist from Wadou and the katana in his right hand, her sword flying overboard. Zoro placed the tip of his sword at the swordswoman's throat and backed her up so she was flat against a wall, though she didn't seem all too afraid.

"You know, that fight was actually kind of fun for a second," Zoro said, grinning. "But the fact of the matter is that women just aren't as strong as men." He pressed the tip of the sword into her neck a little harder, drawing blood. "I was going to kill you, but, since you managed to draw blood on me, I'll tell you this: Live on, and when we next meet, we'll fight again." He slowly lowered his sword and sheathed all three. "But first, I would like to know your name."

There was silence for a long while as the woman didn't respond, and Zoro said, "I'm Roronoa Zoro," as a way to prompt her to do the same.

His opponent, though, stumbled forward and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. He froze, shocked, and pushed her back to arms' length, even more surprised to hear that she was taking shaky breaths.

She was _crying_?

That was another reason women didn't make the best swordsman - they could be too emotional at times.

"You know," she said, "I'm not too happy about what you were saying about women swordsman. You did used to lose to a woman every single day of your life when you were younger."

Zoro blanched. "You...how do you know that?" he demanded.

His opponent slowly took off her mask, revealing a beautiful face and warm, yet dark, brown eyes.

Zoro froze completely in disbelief, his eyes locked on hers. "K...K-K..."

He couldn't get the word out for fear that he was mistaken and she would tell him so.

The woman sighed. "You certainly did keep our promise, Zoro," she said.

"K...Kuina?" he whispered.

She blushed a little, but put her nose up. "You didn't really think I died from falling down the stairs, did you? Only a fool like you would believe that."

"But...you...Wadou..." Zoro said, confused.

"My dad thought it would be the best way for you to get as strong as you have, and I completely agreed," Kuina said.

"You were alive...this whole time?" Zoro said.

Kuina grinned at him. "And now you're the strongest swordsman in the world."

"Do you...do you realize how much I've missed you this whole time?" Zoro yelled.

"Zoro..." Kuina said, frowning.

Zoro sniffled and pushed past her to go inside the cabin, barely noticing that the battle had concluded. No side had won - they had all just stopped.

He felt hot tears pricking his eyes and anger surged through him. He kicked one of the walls and then turned around and sat down with his back against it.

The door slowly opened and Zoro didn't react, trying his best to keep his tears from spilling over.

"Zoro?" Kuina said hesitantly, closing the door behind her.

"It was staged, wasn't it?" Zoro said, still not looking at her. "You contacted Luffy beforehand."

Kuina said nothing and sat down beside him, also looking down at the floor.

Zoro, his throat burning, said, "Do you realize the...the...the _agony_you put me through?"

She turned her head away from him and whispered, "But I thought your dream was to be the best swordsman in the world. I was just trying to help you."

"That is what I wanted...at first," said Zoro. "But after that night we fought with real swords, I started feeling kind of weird. I still wanted to be the best swordsman in the world, but..."

"But?" Kuina inquired, turning to look at him.

Zoro sighed and let his head thunk against the wall behind him. "But...I don't even know. I felt different though. I wanted to...I wanted to do everything I could to spend more time with you. And when I became the strongest swordsman in the world, I felt a burst of accomplishment. When I realized I had accomplished my dream and I was truly the strongest, I felt lonely. I had nothing else to strive for, and I've spent most of my time for the past year sleeping or lazing about. I started thinking about what life would be like if you were still alive." Zoro didn't know why, but he couldn't stop talking. It felt so...liberating. He chuckled. "Well, you certainly wouldn't have let me slack off, and we could have been training on the ship together, and we could have had some good times, and have each other's shoulders to cry on when things got tough. With you here, I...I could have had a purpose."

Zoro glanced over at Kuina to find that she was crying, and she said, "I'm so sorry, Zoro. I know exactly what you were feeling, because I felt the same thing. I always took the time to wonder what life would have been like if me and my father hadn't faked my death."

They fell into a comfortable silence, Kuina calming down and both of them basking in their mutual feelings, until Zoro glanced over at her and said, "You know, I still don't have any purpose in life." She glanced over at him. "I'd really like to have one," he said.

"Zoro..." she breathed, her eyes shining.

Zoro leaned toward her and his lips met hers, her eyes fluttering closed as their lips moved together. They quickly broke apart, their faces red, as the door flew open and Luffy cried, "Zoro!"

"What do you want, Luffy?" Zoro asked, a tad annoyed.

Luffy grinned. "Lunch is ready."

With that, he left, leaving Zoro and Kuina alone again.

"So...what now?" Kuina asked.

Zoro, feeling confident, grinned cheekily at her and said, "You know, training a few young swordsmen to carry on our legacy would be a pretty good purpose in life."

Kuina, surprised at his boldness, felt her face flame and smacked the back of his head. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Zoro. Your first purpose should be to get me to fall in love with you." She smiled cutely at him.

Zoro felt his own face flame in response. After regaining his composure, he scoffed and said, "You kidding me? I've already written that one off as a given. There'll be no way you can resist me."

"Well," said Kuina, "I don't think it'll be too difficult to resist you if your grasp of romance is as bad as your grasp of swordplay."

Zoro hopped up on his feet and pointed a finger at her, a vein popping out on his head. "Is that a challenge?" he yelled.

She hopped up onto her feet and brought her face close to his. "Maybe," she said challengingly.

Then she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his, making him freeze in shock again. Then she left the cabin to join the rest of the pirates, leaving Zoro standing in place like an idiot.

He chuckled as he realized he was already losing - she was dictating the pace at the moment.

He kicked open the door and walked right up to the table where everyone was sitting, talking, eating, and laughing. He went behind Kuina, who had just sat down, and tilted her chin up, surprising her.

He kissed her in front of everybody and was surprised that she didn't resist - she only smiled.

All of the pirates whooped and hollered, and Zoro promised to himself right then and there that he would continue doing what he had done his entire life.

He would strive for Kuina.


End file.
